Beatty labeled as Kilpatrick's co-conspirator for first time

DETROIT, Minn., Oct. 9 (UPI) -- Federal prosecutors called former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick's former chief of staff Christine Beatty a co-conspirator for the first time Wednesday.

Beatty, 43, was never charged in the corruption case against Kilpatrick but was a recurring figure in the five-month trial that ended in guilty verdicts against Kilpatrick, contractor Bobby Ferguson and Kilpatrick's father, Bernard, the Detroit News reported.

Kwame Kilpatrick and Ferguson are expected to be sentenced later this week. In a court filing Wednesday in which prosecutors recommend severe sentence for Ferguson, the phrase "He was also a leader of the criminal scheme, supervising and directing co-conspirators in both the private sector... and the public sector (like Derrick Miller, Victor Mercado and Christine Beatty)" is included.

Beatty, who the Detroit News called a "mayoral mistress" Wednesday, resigned in 2008 and agreed to pay $100,000 restitution as part of her plea to criminal charges stemming from lies she told under oath during a whistle-blower trial, the newspaper said.